PARIS: Monaco went top of the Ligue 1 table on Saturday with a 2-1 win away to Rennes, moving three points ahead of reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Goals from Thilo Kehrer and Folarin Balogun sent the principality side to 19 points. PSG, who are on 16 with a better goal difference, will have the chance to overtake them when they play Nice on Sunday.
“After seven games, we have 19 points, that’s the reality and the truth, and we’re really happy about that,” said Monaco coach Adi Huetter.
However, he added: “The championship is not a 100-meter sprint, it’s a 400-meter race, and we’ve started very well.”
Monaco’s match in the rain in Brittany was decided early in the first half. Kehrer opened the scoring before Ludovic Blas levelled and Balogun then tucked home the winner, all in the first 22 minutes.
Continuing his fine start to the season, Monaco youngster Eliesse Ben Seghir had a part in both of his side’s goals.
His sixth-minute corner met the head of Kehrer, who glanced it into the back of the net despite the efforts of a defender on the line.
Blas put Rennes back on terms five minutes later with a rocket of a left-foot strike from more than 35 yards that flew past Philipp Koehn.
But Balogun wrapped up the points for Huetter’s side when he clipped the ball past an advancing Steve Mandanda in the 22nd minute after a defense-splitting pass from Ben Seghir.
Earlier on Saturday, Lille moved up to fourth, coming from behind to win at home against lowly Toulouse.
Zakaria Aboukhlal gave the 16th-placed side a surprise lead six minutes before the interval when he squeezed a shot on the rebound over the line from a tight angle.
But former Manchester United playmaker Angel Gomes levelled for Lille on 57 minutes when he prodded home Osame Sahraoui’s lofted pass from close range.
Mitchel Bakker made it two wins in a week at home for Lille — after Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League — with a composed finish in the 72nd minute, rounding off a swift counter-attack.
A hat-trick from Zuriko Davitashvili propelled Saint-Etienne out of the relegation zone as they beat Auxerre 3-1 at home.
The Georgian opened the scoring first after a quarter of a hour with a thumping finish after carrying the ball 40 yards into the visitors’ penalty area.
He hit his second on 54 minutes after again cutting in from the left flank and taking aim with his right foot.
Theo Bair halved the deficit with 15 minutes remaining, before Davitashvili completed his triple with a dinked finish on 87 minutes.
On Sunday, Lyon host Nantes while Reims and Lens are also in action, before PSG travel to ninth-placed Nice.
Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
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Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- “After seven games, we have 19 points, that’s the reality and the truth, and we’re really happy about that,” said Monaco coach Adi Huetter
Saudis resume preparation for their Australia clash of the World Cup Asian qualifiers
- Tuesday’s match is the final round of the third stage of the AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
- Head coach Herve Renard limited the session to a recovery workout at the team’s health club
JEDDAH: The Saudi Arabian national football team resumed training on Friday at their Jeddah camp as they gear up for their AFC World Cup qualifier against Australia.
Tuesday’s match is the final round of the third stage of the AFC qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
On the field, head coach Herve Renard limited the session to a recovery workout at the team’s health club, involving all players following previous intensive training days.
Players Muhannad Al-Saad and Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti have started their individual rehabilitation programs under the supervision of the fitness coach working their way back to full strength.
Following the recovery session, Renard gave the squad a period of free time, with players scheduled to regroup at the team’s camp later on Friday evening.
The Green Falcons will continue their training on Saturday with a closed-door session set to take place at the reserve pitch of King Abdullah Sports City at 7:00 p.m.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia beat Bahrain 2-0 in Riffa to tee up a showdown with Australia for the second automatic spot in AFC FIFA World Cup qualifying Group C.
Thursday’s win keeps Saudi third, three points behind Australia, although with a far inferior goal difference. The Socceroos stand at second place with 16 points from nine matches, having scored 14 goals and conceded 6.
The Green Falcons have so far bagged six goals and conceded the same with 13 points in third spot. They have to win 8-0 against Australia to climb up to second place and qualify directly, otherwise they move on to the next group phase.
Postecoglou sacked by Spurs despite ending trophy drought
- The Australian paid the price for Tottenham’s worst domestic season
- “The Club can announce that Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties,” a statement said
LONDON: Ange Postecoglou was sacked as Tottenham manager on Friday, just 16 days after the Australian ended the club’s 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League.
Postecoglou led Tottenham to a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao to clinch the north Londoners’ first European prize in 41 years and secure a place in next season’s Champions League.
But the Australian paid the price for Tottenham’s worst domestic season since they were relegated from the top flight in 1976-77.
“Following a review of performances and after significant reflection, the Club can announce that Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties,” a statement on Tottenham’s official X account said.
Exactly two years after he was hired from Celtic, Postecoglou’s eventful spell in north London was brought to a end by chairman Daniel Levy.
Tottenham lost 22 of their 38 Premier League games to finish 17th in the table, above only relegated trio Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton.
“The Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the club for a change to take place,” the statement said.
“Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the club’s greatest moments, we
cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”
What the Trump travel ban means for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games
- There is significant uncertainty regarding visa policies for foreign visitors planning trips to the US for the two biggest events in sports.
- Iran is the only targeted country to qualify so far for the World Cup being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico in one year’s time.
GENEVA: US President Donald Trump often says the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are among the events he is most excited about in his second term.
Yet there is significant uncertainty regarding visa policies for foreign visitors planning trips to the US for the two biggest events in sports.
Trump’s latest travel ban on citizens from 12 countries added new questions about the impact on the World Cup and the Summer Olympics, which depend on hosts opening their doors to the world.
Here’s a look at the potential effects of the travel ban on those events.
What is the travel ban policy?
When Sunday ticks over to Monday, citizens of 12 countries should be banned from entering the US
They are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Tighter restrictions will apply to visitors from seven more: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Trump said some countries had “deficient” screening and vetting processes or have historically refused to take back their own citizens.
How does it affect the World Cup and Olympics?
Iran, a soccer power in Asia, is the only targeted country to qualify so far for the World Cup being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico in one year’s time.
Cuba, Haiti and Sudan are in contention. Sierra Leone might stay involved through multiple playoff games. Burundi, Equatorial Guinea and Libya have very outside shots.
But all should be able to send teams to the World Cup if they qualify because the new policy makes exceptions for “any athlete or member of an athletic team, including coaches, persons performing a necessary support role, and immediate relatives, traveling for the World Cup, Olympics, or other major sporting event as determined by the secretary of state.”
About 200 countries could send athletes to the Summer Games, including those targeted by the latest travel restrictions. The exceptions should apply to them as well if the ban is still in place in its current form.
What about fans?
The travel ban doesn’t mention any exceptions for fans from the targeted countries wishing to travel to the US for the World Cup or Olympics.
Even before the travel ban, fans of the Iran soccer team living in that country already had issues about getting a visa for a World Cup visit.
Still, national team supporters often profile differently to fans of club teams who go abroad for games in international competitions like the UEFA Champions League.
For many countries, fans traveling to the World Cup — an expensive travel plan with hiked flight and hotel prices — are often from the diaspora, wealthier, and could have different passport options.
A World Cup visitor is broadly higher-spending and lower-risk for host nation security planning.
Visitors to an Olympics are often even higher-end clients, though tourism for a Summer Games is significantly less than at a World Cup, with fewer still from most of the 19 countries now targeted.
How is the US working with FIFA, Olympic officials?
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has publicly built close ties since 2018 to Trump — too close according to some. He has cited the need to ensure FIFA’s smooth operations at a tournament that will earn a big majority of the soccer body’s expected $13 billion revenue from 2023-26.
Infantino sat next to Trump at the White House task force meeting on May 6 which prominently included Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. FIFA’s top delegate on the task force is Infantino ally Carlos Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs partner whose two-year run as US Soccer Federation president ended in controversy in 2020.
Any visa and security issues FIFA faces — including at the 32-team Club World Cup that kicks off next week in Miami — can help LA Olympics organizers finesse their plans.
“It was very clear in the directive that the Olympics require special consideration and I actually want to thank the federal government for recognizing that,” LA28 chairman and president Casey Wasserman said Thursday in Los Angeles.
“It’s very clear that the federal government understands that that’s an environment that they will be accommodating and provide for,” he said. “We have great confidence that that will only continue. It has been the case to date and it will certainly be the case going forward through the games.”
In March, at an IOC meeting in Greece, Wasserman said he had two discreet meetings with Trump and noted the State Department has a “fully staffed desk” to help prepare for short-notice visa processing in the summer of 2028 — albeit with a focus on teams rather than fans.
IOC member Nicole Hoevertsz, who is chair of the Coordination Commission for LA28, expressed “every confidence” that the US government will cooperate, as it did in hosting previous Olympics.
“That is something that we will be definitely looking at and making sure that it is guaranteed as well,” she said. “We are very confident that this is going to be accomplished. I’m sure this is going to be executed well.”
FIFA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the new Trump travel ban.
What have other host nations done?
The 2018 World Cup host Russia let fans enter the country with a game ticket doubling as their visa. So did Qatar four years later.
Both governments, however, also performed background checks on all visitors coming to the month-long soccer tournaments.
Governments have refused entry to unwelcome visitors. For the 2012 London Olympics, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko — who is still its authoritarian leader today — was denied a visa despite also leading its national Olympic body. The IOC also suspended him from the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021.
UAE President’s Cup returns with €100,000 purse on Sweden’s national day
- The race is a significant milestone in the UAE’s ongoing efforts to promote Arabian horse racing on the world stage
Abu Dhabi: The storied UAE President’s Cup series for purebred Arabian horses makes a landmark stop in Sweden today, bringing the richest Arabian horse race in Scandinavian history to the heart of Stockholm.
Held on Sweden’s National Day at the famous Gardet turf track, the sixth leg of the 32nd edition of the global series offers a €100,000 purse, drawing top talent from Europe and the Middle East.
The race, a 1,500-meter listed event for horses aged four and older, continues the cup’s international campaign under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, vice president, deputy prime minister, and chairman of the presidential court of the UAE.
It is also a significant milestone in the UAE’s ongoing efforts to promote Arabian horse racing on the world stage.
A field of nine elite runners is set to compete, headlined by the returning Swedish fan favorite Rasmy Al-Khalediah, a two-time winner of this leg (2021, 2022), trained by Poland’s Janusz Kozłowski and ridden by Eduardo Pedroza.
The UAE is represented by the promising filly Hawlah, owned by Yas Horse Racing Management. Sired by Mehabb and out of Dahyah bint Munjiz, she is trained by France’s Elisabeth Bernard with Valentin Seguy in the saddle.
Another major threat is Fareedah B, the winner of the 2023 and 2024 Swedish legs and fresh off a victory in the Netherlands stage earlier this season. Owned and trained by Peter Deckers, she will again be ridden by experienced French jockey Fabrice Veron.
Also in the mix are Wasmey Al Khalediah, Mashho T, No Risk No Reward, Ayman, Gindor de Bozouls, and Cappuccino — each hoping to break through on one of the biggest stages in European Arabian racing.
The Sweden leg follows successful stops in Tunisia, Morocco, France, the United States, and Italy, with each race reinforcing the cup’s mission to promote the legacy and competitiveness of the Arabian breed worldwide.
Matar Suhail Al-Yabhouni Al-Dhaheri, chairman of the higher organizing committee, emphasized the strategic importance of this stop.
“Under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE President’s Cup continues to drive the modern Arabian horse racing industry forward. Our Sweden stop highlights the strategic expansion of our support for owners and breeders across Europe.
“This leg reinforces our global commitment to Arabian horse racing, showcasing the UAE’s vision under his highness’s leadership,” he added.
As the race today adds to Sweden’s national celebrations, all eyes will be on the track at Gardet for what promises to be a thrilling display of speed, heritage, and international rivalry at the highest level of Arabian flat racing.
Rakan Alireza: From Jeddah’s waters to Milan’s Olympic slopes
- A Saudi Games rowing champion, the 29-year-old is now focusing on representing the Kingdom at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy
JEDDAH: Cross-country skier Rakan Alireza has made history as the first Saudi athlete to compete in cross-country skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics. He is now focused on leaving an even bigger mark on the sport.
Known for his unique dual-sport talent in skiing and rowing, Alireza last year won a rowing gold medal at the Saudi Games, the Kingdom’s premier national sporting event held annually.
Having steadily progressed on the international ski circuit, he has recently competed in several global events, including the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Above all, Alireza has successfully qualified for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and is already focused on preparing for the prestigious event.
“I’ve been working toward this goal for years,” Alireza told the media recently. “It’s a dream that’s coming closer, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Despite tough competition and limited snow exposure at home, his international experience and discipline keep him in the running.
Alireza’s journey has already inspired many in the Kingdom. He trains year-round, alternating between alpine slopes and watersport arenas.
His ambition extends beyond personal milestones. “If I can qualify, it opens the door for others. It shows that Saudis belong in winter sports too,” he told Arab News.
With growing institutional backing and increasing public interest, Alireza represents a shifting athletic landscape in Saudi Arabia, one where snow is no longer off-limits.
For most athletes, preparing for the Winter Olympics involves snow, mountains, and early mornings in alpine silence. For Rakan Alireza, it begins in the desert heat of Jeddah.
Now 29, the Saudi athlete will represent the Kingdom in cross-country skiing at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Reflecting on the moment he learned he had qualified, Alireza called it “bittersweet.
“Because when you work for a goal for such a long time, and once you reach it, it feels like the end,” he said.
He remembers standing among the crowd at the Milan-Cortina slopes years ago — not as an athlete, but as a spectator — quietly dreaming of carrying his nation’s flag across that snow.
“I saw different flags. I remember clearly. I felt like I can’t wait to raise the Saudi flag there. That’s the only thing I remember.”
Skiing is now the sport driving his every move. His routine is a cycle of relentless fitness training.
“Wake up early. Two to three hours of steady-state cardio. Go to work. Do it again in the afternoon. Ninety percent of my training is just cardio,” he says, laughing. But the weight of Olympic qualification is never far from his mind. “(In) 2026, I’m going to Milan. In like eight months; it’s really close.”
Cross-country skiing and rowing may seem worlds apart, but Alireza sees them as complementary.
“They’re both the most aerobic sports in the world. Being in the rowing team helps because I’m surrounded by competitors that make me work hard.
“If you go see the cross-country skiing field, I stick out like a sore thumb. I’m too big for the sport,” Alireza added. “I drop from 91 kg to 85 during the season. Here in Jeddah, I just can’t. It’s a struggle.”
His choice to pursue both sports was not always welcomed. “They wanted me to focus strictly on one. But I didn’t believe that was my way. I’d rather fail my way than succeed someone else’s way.”
His commitment to sporting excellence is deeply personal. “It’s a privilege to do what I do. I don’t want to waste it. I don’t regret anything. Even the race I didn’t win, I’d do it again.”
Alireza believes that mental strength can be forged through a dedication to motion.
“Anyone who tells me he has problems, I tell him: Go run. Do something boring for a while. You’ll be in your head a lot. You need to push past that.”
A key figure in his journey is his coach, Christer Skog, a seasoned Swedish trainer who has led national teams in Sweden, the Czech Republic, the UK, and Australia.
“Now he has me. We fight. We eat cake. We move forward,” Alireza laughs. Skog’s unconventional methods resonate with him. “He once told me to go pick mushrooms for dinner instead of training. I ended up hiking for three hours. He just knows how to get my head back into it.”
Despite the rigorous training, Alireza remains grounded in humor and family.
“My dad still thinks I should work, but he supports me. My mom is my biggest cheerleader.”
Apart from his skiing and rowing adventures, Alireza is also a sports entrepreneur and is currently working with Kona Jeddah Marine Sports Club, Saudi Arabia’s first wakeboarding facility.
“I started three years ago. It was a coincidence,” he said. “I had just returned from a winter trip. I had no job. I was supposed to attend a wedding, but I stayed at the training center instead. That’s when my boss saw me and said, ‘You’re Rakan Alireza? Stay.’ Two weeks later, I was hired.”
Kona Jeddah is more than a sports club. It’s a grassroots incubator offering wakeboarding, stand-up paddleboarding, kayaking, and electric surfboards.
“We introduced wakeboarding in Saudi. We have the first cable system here. The IWWF (International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation) certified us. Now they want to host international competitions. It’s something I can contribute to.”
Alireza hopes Kona will one day produce Olympic-level athletes.
“We already have MoUs with federations,” he said. “Rowing, swimming, kayaking. I want someone to go to the Olympics from a sport we built here.”
Alireza sees such targets as part of his contribution to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
“When people say I’m ambitious, I say I’m just following the lead. Our leadership, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are ambitious. The country is ambitious. It’s a duty for us to contribute.”
The 2026 Winter Olympics will run from Feb. 6-22 next year, and as the countdown to the action in Milan continues, Alireza’s focus is sharpening.
“I called the CEO of the rowing federation. He said, ‘We’d love to have you back, but you should focus on skiing now. You have eight months. Give it your best.’
“Everything runs its course,” Alireza said. “I haven’t reached the point where I hate it. I’ll always be in something.
“Maybe retirement from sport? Golf,” he grins. “But not yet. Not now.”
